Story:Star Trek: Conflict/Kinslayer
A mutiny on the ''Enterprise''-C, led by Edward Shield's evil father threatens everything... Summary Chapter One Edward Shield is back in command of the . So far, no bombs have been placed outside his cabin door (he also found out that Lianna Young had his cabin fully repaired in his absence) and no poison has been slipped into his tea. He falls into a fitful sleep, during which he relives the memories of his father and the brutality he suffered under him. Meanwhile, Gerald Gradl is in the captain's chair at them helm. He volunteered to take over so that the captain could get his rest. With him are Yare'ma Liin, the Betazoid Shield rescued from the mirror Enterprise, as well as Alicia Rookwood, who is now a helms-controller on this ''Enterprise''. He delivers to them all a grand speech regarding the ineptitude of the current captain, and promises that he will save them from Shield's repressive rule. All of them question what he will give them if they betray Shield: he then replays a message from Admiral Sanders, granting full pardon, amnesty and exemption from Order 865 to all who would betray either Edward Shield or Lianna Young. All swear their loyalty to this endeavor, and Liin herself begins making out with Gradl. Chapter Two Shield is then woken up from his sleep by an urgent call to the Bridge. He fulfills and comes on to the Bridge. No one says anything, or even stands at attention. Shield then asks Gerald Gradl to give the captain back his seat: Gradl replies with a sneer that the captain of the ship IS in his seat. Shield asks very firmly that he is back and should therefore resume his post. Gradl mockingly laughs and says that the captaincy of Edward Shield was an expletive joke that has finally ended. Shield calls for assistance from the : but Rookwood informs him that all communications are down. He then turns to Loghri and asks for some help, but he replies that he has no allegiance with a traitor (indicating to Shield as the traitor); Shield asks Liin for help, but she open-mouth-kisses Gradl in front of him. Gradl says that if Shield is so blind that he can't tell a mutiny when he sees one, he deserves to be mutinied against. He then takes out a strip of sharpened duranium and cuts a gash in Shield's face. He then spits in the gash and tells his loyal mutineers to take Shield to the Brig. Shortly thereafter, Gradl tells his men to send a distress summons to the , while he goes to the Brig torture Shield. Once there, he begins without mercy, claiming that he will cause Shield more pain than he ever suffered under him. Shield asks what he ever could have done to merit such punishment, but Gradl only tortures him some more, saying that he should know by now. He then attaches a barbed-wire device to Shield's eyes that forces them open. This enough is painful, since his eyes are being dried out by being forced open without blinking. Gradl then calls Liin to his side. With her there, he tells her to reveal the truth: she tells Shield that it was all a ruse. She faked gratitude and lied to him when she called him imzadi: she loves enslavement, and has been promised much worse by Gerald Gradl. To add insult to injury, he and Liin copulate before Edward Shield, who is unable to close his eyes or even move them without pain. Chapter Three After the torture, Edward Shield, feeling lost and alone, breaks down in tears. Gradl laughs at this and sends Liin back to the Bridge while he continues torturing the prisoner. Shield finds out that Gradl is extremely sadistic, getting sensual arousal from hurting Shield or hearing him cry in pain. At his wits end, Shield begs to know why Gradl hates him. Gradl then says that his entire life was destroyed because of his mother, his birth, and the birth of his brothers. He then says that Marja Djurhuus black-mailed him into marrying her after she had bore a child (one he had illegitimately beget with her). He did not like this, since it interfered with his plans to bring the Brotherhood of the Aryan Race into galactic prominence. But he said that she forced him to do it, giving him no choice. To put her in her place, he made her his love-slave. But he didn't expect children, nor did he want any. He mistreated them as best as he could, since only that gave him pleasure. He then said that his best friend and apprentice in the Brotherhood, Yakob Sanders, was able to get him a position back in the admiralty, only that he had to relocate to Megara II. En route, he was killed by Romulan pirates...Gradl names one Romulan in particular: Nox. But he further says that his death was immaterial, since he is immortal through cloning. This being said, he reveals his status as Edward's father Leopold. Chapter Four Leopold Pedrag Shield then declares that he was responsible for the unification of Earth during the 21st century, saying that the Brotherhood of the Aryan Race and the Cochrane Movement were one and the same. He also states that he has existed since 666 AD. Forever severing his ties with his son, he cuts his finger with a dagger, then stabs his own son in the gut, and puts the blood from his finger into the open and bleeding wound. He renounces "Leopold Shield" forever as a weakling, and assumes the title of Gerald Gradl. He leaves, swearing to return with more punishment (and worse). Alone, Shield begins to hear voices in his head. He thinks that he is going mad due to this new revelation, or that he is hallucinating due to the loss of blood. But the voice persists, telling him that the only way to bring peace to his troubled mind is to kill his father. But he tells the voice that he cannot do it. The voice then tells Shield that if it follows his instruction, he will be given power. Shield relents, following the voice's instructions, and breaks the binding chains with his bare strength. Shield arrives at the Bridge, where he challenges his father to a duel to the death. But Gradl says that he's no match for him, and begins to mock him again like he did to him in his youth. Gradl then says that it doesn't matter, since he cannot die. He mocks Shield's dilemma, laughing in his face a most hideous, mocking laughter. Shield lets the voice take full control. He attacks Gerald Gradl without mercy. Taking the barbed wire that Gradl had used to torture him, Shield now ties it around his fists and begins striking Gradl in the face. Gradl smiles and mocks Shield's violent behavior since he can't be killed. This only further turns Shield's compliance to the voice, making him stronger. He continues and refuses to let up until... Chapter Five Gerald Gradl is dead. Shield has mashed his head into a bloody mess of pounded meat, powdered bones and bloody strands of hair. The entire Bridge crew of the saw this. They are now mortally afraid of their captain: they originally believed him to be a weak, pushover with whom they could get away with anything. Seeing this example, they now fear for their lives and they begin to see their self-preservation now as greater than their mutiny against the captain. Edward Shield comes out over the voice, and sees that he's just committed murder. His father's blood is on his hands (literally), and he's broken his greatest moral code: never kill, only at the uttermost end of need and never to sate ones own pain. Liin, who has been acting very barbaric in her copulations with Gradl, screams at Shield, calling him a barbarian. She takes a few bloody hairs from what is left of his head and then runs off the Bridge. Once in the turbolift, she weeps piteously over the hairs of her dead lover, vowing that she will find a way to avenge his death and see Edward Shield die. Shield orders the crew to reestablish communications with the , and they obey promptly, without question or hesitation. Shield then tells Young that he needs to speak with her. On the Admonitor, in the captain's cabin, he reveals all to his only friend, breaking down in tears. Rather than mock him as a "weak maggot", she lets him cry on her shoulder. A small tear wells up in her eye and she says, the first time to a male... ::I'm here for you...Ed. Trivia *Soundtrack Information: Father vs. Son Category:Star Trek: Conflict Episodes Category:Story Arc: The Shield Family Category:Story Arc: Alien Rage Virus